LOS ANGELES -- When they briefly met on the field before Monday's game, San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer made a point of expressing his appreciation to Stan Kasten, his Los Angeles Dodgers counterpart, for the new batting cage now available to the visiting teams at Dodger Stadium.

Baer did not mention that, of the $100 million invested in upgrading the iconic yet aging ballpark, not a penny was spent on expanding the cramped visiting clubhouse. The home team's quarters, on the other hand, were enlarged and enhanced.

"We want players to know that there's a difference between being a visitor and getting to be a Dodger," Kasten said.

The longtime rivalry is alive and well, perhaps better than ever.

The ballpark improvements and a $500 million-plus roster remake that began last season are part of the master plan concocted by the nearly one-year-old ownership group headed by Mark Walter, with NBA legend Magic Johnson as front man and Kasten as president.

Their immediate goal is to bring Los Angeles its first World Series championship since 1988, and their most obvious obstacle is the Giants, winners of two of the last three titles.

Clayton Kershaw on Monday threw a four-hit shutout and homered in a 4-0 victory that ran his career record against San Francisco to 9-4 with a 1.28 ERA.

Kershaw wants no part of any discussion about his mastery of the Giants, saying, "They'll get me one of these days."

Baer is only too happy to see the rivalry flourish. "When you have one team in bankruptcy, you may say, 'Hey, we can beat up on them.' But a rivalry is you're fighting for something," Baer said. "Here, both teams are fully loaded."